Holder for safety-razor blades



Sept- 2, 1930. A. B. THOMAS 4 I HOLDER FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES FiledOCT.. l1, 1929 INVE NTORI ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 2, 1930 narran stares ALMER B. THOMAS, OF HARDWCK,VERMONT HOLDER FCR SAFETY-RAZOR BLADES l Application mea october 11',1929. serial No. 398,945.

'.lhe present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon theblade holder which forms the subject of Letters Patent of the UnitedStates granted to me on the 21st day ot January, 1919, under Number1,292,150.

'l he present invention aims to provide improved means for more securelyholding the cap piece in blade clamping` position, and also means forenabling it to be more readily moved outward to release the blade, andthe invention comprises the novel construction hereinafter described andVdefined by the appended claims.

i blade holder constructed in accordance i5 with my present invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the blade holder showing the cap piecein its raised position in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a top edge or plan view. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view andFig. 4 is a transverse sectional view.

Referring by reference characters to this drawing, the numeral 4idesignates the blade holding portion of the device, the blade beingshown in position and designated by the numeral 5. The blade holdingportion is slitted or divided longitudinally as indicated at 11b toreceive the blade, and as the most convenient manner of `forming theblade holding portion and handle l form the same of two parts, the partsof handle forming portion 4f* being secured together in any convenientmanner as by brazing, welding, or

riveting, and the blade holding parts being unconnected except as theyare held by the handle parts.

rlfhe handle parts may have the center cut away as indicated at a forlightness and may 40 be serrated as indicated at a to afford a bettergrip. I do not, however, limit myself to this manner of forming theholders and handle as the same may be constructed in various ways asindicated in my aforesaid patent.

The blade holding parts extend above and below the relatively narrowshank 4 oit the handle and the upper or rear outer Jfaces of theupwardly projecting parts are adapted to cooperate with a cap piece 8with a wedging action to press the blade holding parts together tofirmly clamp the blade therebetween. Preterably this action is securedby making the outer faces of said upper parts inclined towards eachother or converging, and making the inner cooperating walls of the cappiece correspondingly flared.

Thus when the cap piece is swung upwardly or outwardly into the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the parts of the holder automaticallyseparate sufficiently to enable the blade to be inserted therebetween orremoved therefrom, while when it is swung down into the position shownin Ylull lines, the blade is clamped firmly in position.

rlhe cap piece is preferably hinged to the holder at the outer end bymeans of a pin 7 having its ends iirmly held in openings in the walls ofthe cap piece as by upsetting, and having its intermediate portionpassing freely through an elongated slot 4d in the blade holders. w

rlho portions of the blade holders above and adjacent the shank arerounded to form approximately semicircular abutments 4e which aredesigned to cooperate with the locking and releasing means carried bythe free or inner end oi the cap piece.

The said free or inner end is bifurcated as indicated at 8a to providetwo'parallel projecting walls and the locking device comprises a springmember 9 which has a straight portion resting upon the top of the cappiece and firmly secured thereto in any suitable manner as by riveting.The free end of the spring` member is curved downwardly to coact withthe curved abutment 4e, the spring in the closed position lying betweenthe two side flanges and its free end lying against the lowerbaclrwardly inclined or curved portion of the abutment.

In'this position the spring not only holds by its frictional contact butgives a stronger holding action by reason of its inwardly curved endunderlying the curved face of the abutment.

To enable the cap piece to be readily swung upward against theresistance of the spring, l provide a releasing device or member in theform of an approximately bell crank shaped lever 10 located between thewalls of the bi- Cil furcation and pivoted upon pin 11 carried by saidwalls. One arm of the bell crank eX- tends upwardly and is provided witha head portion l0?L which is extended lateralljv to form a flange orlip, while the other arm 10b is extended inwardly to underlie theabutment when the cap piece is in closed or locking` position.

lith the parts in closed position and desiring to open the cap piece, itis only necessary for the operator to place the thumb of the right handunder the lip 10 while grasping the holder with the remaining fingers,and press outwardly, whereupon the bell crank lever is rocked and itsend 10b forced downwardly against the top of the shanlr portionadjacentthe abutment, which action forces the pivot pin 1l and the freeend of the cap piece upward against the re. ree of the spring. A reversemovement cheats the closing action. This leaves the otl er (left) hand.free for inserting and removing the blades.

Then the cap piece is closed, the end 10b rides on the top of the shankand is forced inward thereby.

In order that the blades, which are generally of the cGillettetype,maybeproperlypositioned in the holder, I provide the latter withposition in dicatingmarks which may take the form of indentations oncurved lines corresponding to the curved ends of the blades as indicatedat l2 or circularly arranged indentations corresponding to the holes inthe blades, as indicated at 12a, or both.

I claim:

l. A device for holding safety razor blades during sharpening comprisinga handle and a pair of clamping members, a channeled cap piece hinged atone end to one end of said clamping members and constructed and adaptedwhen swung upon said members to press them towards each other to clampthe blade therebetween, a spring catch adj acent the free end of the cappiece for holding the same in closed position, and a movable memberadjacent the free end of the cap piece for moving the said free endoutward against the resistance of the friction catch.

2. A device for holding safety razor blades during sharpening comprisinga handle and a pair of clamping members, a channeled cap piece havingwalls to coact with the walls of the clamping members, one set of saidwalls being inclined to produce a wedging action, said cap piece beinghinged to said clamping members at one end, a spring catch adjacent thefree end of the channel member, and a rocking lever adjacent the freeend of the channel member for forcing the latter outward against theresistance of the catch.

3. A device for holding safety razor blades during sharpening comprisinga handle and a pair of blade clamping members having rear portionsinclined towards each other, and a channeled cap piece having inclinedwalls to coact with said inclined portions, said cap piece being hingedto the outer end of said clamping members, a spring catch adjacent thehandle end of the cap piece for holding the same in closed position, anda linger pivoted to the handle end of the cap piece and having a partadapted to bear on the clamping members for forcing said end out` wardlyagainst the resistance of the friction catch.

l. A device for holding safety razor blades during sharpening comprisinga han dle and a pair of blade clamping members having rear portionsinclined towards each other, and a channeled cap piece having inclinedwalls to coact with said inclined por tions, said inclined walls havingrounded ends forming shoulders above the handle shank and said cap piecea bifureatefl end projecting beyond said shoulders, a spring catchlyingl in the bifurcation for engaging said shoulders, and a lingerlever pivotally mounted in the bifurcation and having an upwardlyextendingl arm for linger engagement and a downwardly extending arm toengage the handle shank.

5. A device according to claim 4 in which the spring catch serves as astop to` limit the movement of the upwardly extending portion of thelinger lever in one direction, and the downwardly extended arm ofthelinger is inclined towards the rounded shoulders.

In testimony whereof, I aliix my signature.

ALMER B. THOMAS.

